The First Five People You Meet In Heaven
by Britt30
Summary: In a terrible stroke of luck, Hiro gets injured and killed during a fight. But thankfully, that's not the end of the story. He wakes up in Heaven and is reunited with the people who have meant the most to him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: What? Me? Posting something new when I have other stories that need to be updated? Of course not!**

**In any case, I've had this idea for a while. It's based off of Mitch Albom's ****_The First Five People You Meet In Heaven _****\- a fantastic book!**

**So please, read, review, and enjoy!**

Sirens wailing. Lights flashing. People shouting. What was going on?

The ground was hard and rough. He was leaning against a wall. His ears rang and his stomach burned. It felt hot and… wet?

Red. So much red that it was almost black. It drenched his shirt and covered his hands.

That wasn't good.

"Hiro." A surprisingly calm voice considering the situation. Hiro's vision blurred and swam until he was finally able to focus on the face of the robot kneeling next to him.

"Baymax?" he said thickly and coughed. More red. His head pounded.

"Hiro, you need to focus on my voice while I apply pressure to the wound."

"I'll try," he murmured. Black tendrils began to creep into the edges of his vision, growing thicker and darker, obscuring his sight. Were they microbots? Had they been fighting Callaghan? Were his friends okay?  
"No," he whimpered. "No!"

"Hiro, stay with me," Baymax urged, but it was too later.

Everything went black.

And then, everything went white.

"What?" Hiro blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden shift in light. "Where am- whoa."

He was standing in the middle of the most stunning laboratory he had ever seen. It was high ceilinged, with tall bay windows that looked out over the San Fransokyo coast. The walls were white, adding to the inherent brightness of the place. Half of the room was set aside for several robotics projects in various stages of completion while the other half appeared to be used for chemical experiments. Several drones, each unique in color and design, flew about the room picking up and delivering various tools and materials to the different stations. Hiro's eyes widened as he spotted three Baymax's in different sizes bustling around, taking care of the experiments.

"What the- Hello!" he called. "Is anyone here?"

"Coming!"

The voice came from a side room Hiro hadn't noticed before. The door was partially cracked and, inside, he could see someone moving around, standing up from where they had been sitting at a large desk overlooking the bay. His breath caught as they came through the door.

Tall, black hair, stupid green blazer, but no baseball cap.

"Hiro!" Tadashi cried, a bright grin splitting his face. "I didn't expect to see you so soon!" He quickly closed the gap between them and wrapped his brother in a hug. "It's good to see you."

Hiro was in shock. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be _real, _and yet…

It felt real. His brother was warm, the material of his shirt was soft, the hug, tight and firm.

"Tadashi."

They finally separated and Hiro looked around. "Where are we? What is this place?" Tadashi laughed, joyful and carefree.

"Welcome to Heaven."

"Wait, what! But-"

"Not how you expected it to be, right?" Tadashi asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Certainly not what I thought it would be like, but definitely what I always wished it would be," he said, glancing around admirably.

"I can't be _dead._"

"Hate to break it to you bro, but that's usually the only way you get up here."

Hiro's mind scrabbled desperately to remember what had happened. There had been a fight with some villain. He had been injured and thrown. Baymax. Red. So much red. He looked down at his hands as if expecting to see the blood still covering them, but they were clean. He felt his stomach, but there was no gaping wound to be found.

"You wanna talk about it?" Tadashi asked gently.

"Can, can you see us down there?" Hiro asked. Tadashi pulled a hand out of his pocket to make a so-so motion.

"More or less. It's not that we can't or that we're not allowed to, there's just so much to do here," he said gesturing to the lab before turning back to his brother. "But I always made it a point to check in on you guys." He smiled. "Even more so after you started your own superhero group."

"Ha. Yeah. There… was a fight. I got… impaled? And thrown. Baymax… Baymax was trying to save me. He's probably still trying." Hiro looked up as Tadashi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He couldn't believe this. He buried himself in his brother's chest for another hug.

"It's okay Hiro," Tadashi murmured. "You did a great job. Do you even know how many people you helped? You did so good."

"What about Aunt Cass?" Hiro whispered, trying to choke back the tears. Losing her sister and brother-in-law, and then Tadashi, and now Hiro? How was that fair?

"I know. But like I said, we can go check on her. She's strong. She'll be okay. They all will."

Hiro sniffled and pulled away and looked around the laboratory again. Outside, the sun shone bright and he could hear the distant crash of waves from the bay.

"What do you even do here?"

Tadashi smiled, wide and carefree. "Let me show you." He lead Hiro to his lab to show him around. And Hiro was blown away. This was the most high tech stuff he and ever seen! And that was saying something.

"I don't get it," he said. "Why do you need all this stuff if you're dead? What's the point!" Tadashi shrugged.

"Let me say this. God's the biggest and best scientist out there. He loves science even more than _we _do. And sometimes, He needs something to happen down on Earth, so we'll more or less send someone our ideas and discoveries from up here."

"Unbelievable," Hiro murmured. "But totally sweet."

They spent the rest of the day going through the lab, invention by invention, never straying far from the other's side and, truly, it did seem like heaven.

Hiro was soldering something as Tadashi told him about some upgrade ideas he had had for Baymax when he glanced out the window.

"Hey. Look."

Hiro looked up and quietly whispered, "Wow."

The sun was setting over the bay, turning the ocean water to gold and the sky to the most brilliant pinks and reds and oranges and yellows he had ever seen; like a thousand roses blooming at once.

Tadashi stood and stretched. "Come on. I'm sure Mom and Dad are anxious to see you."

"Mom and Dad?" Hiro squeaked. Tadashi nodded.

"When you first get to heaven, you meet the five people who have had the most important impact on your life. I'm actually honored I was your first," he said with a little mock bow. "Besides Mom and Dad, I don't know who else you'll get to see. But once you're done, you get your own little slice of heaven and you can go see whoever you want, whenever you want. So you better come back to visit, okay?" He noogied Hiro's head and his brother laughed.

"Trust me. If I have anything to say about it, I'll have the lab right next door."

"I'll see you soon. Just go out that door and you should find them."

"Thanks." He started towards it, but then turned back and squeezed his brother. "Last hug."

"Love you Hiro."

Finally releasing his brother, Hiro moved towards the door and opened it into a brilliantly white mist. Here went nothing. He stepped through and closed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! Welcome back! Special thanks to Wings of a Bird, Guest, and jagen heie for your lovely reviews! I really appreciate them and I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**This chapter is a bit dialogue heavy, but as always, read, review, and enjoy!**

As Hiro walked, the mist slowly cleared to reveal a twilight lit Japanese garden. The sound under his feet changed as it melted seamlessly it seemed from tile to pebbles. Paper lanterns were strung from the trees, though they weren't quite lit yet, and swung in the gentle breeze that smelled heavily, but not unpleasantly, of flowers.

Hiro looked around as he nervously tapped his hand against his pant leg. He was going to meet his parents. He barely even _remembered _his parents. They had died when he was three after all. All he had had to go off of growing up was stories from Tadashi and Aunt Cass. What were they like? Would they be happy to see him? Would they be proud of him?

He continued along the path, admiring the trees and plants around him. Everything seemed to be in full bloom.

He came around a bend and pulled up short as he spotted a couple nestled together on a bench overlooking a pond. Were these-? He took a deep breath and called,

"Um, excuse me? I'm looking for my parents-"

The wife whipped her head around while the husband turned a bit more slowly, but before Hiro could get the rest of his sentence out, they had leaped off the bench and he was tackled in a hug by his mother.

"Hiro! Oh my goodness!" She smothered the top of his head in kisses and finally pulled back a little bit, cupping his face, to get a good look at him. Hiro had seen pictures, but it was nothing compared to seeing them in person. He was surprised how much she looked like Aunt Cass; her hair was a bit more red and her face a bit thinner, but the similarity was there. He was pulled into another hug and honestly he didn't mind.

"It's so good to see you. Oh, that doesn't even do it justice! But I don't know what else to say! Honey, it's Hiro!"  
"I know dear. May I have a turn?"

"Mm, one last hug." She squeezed Hiro extra tight and let him go.

His dad was about Tadashi's height. He wore glasses and his eyes crinkled and were wet with tears.

"Hi Dad."

He was pulled into another hug and Hiro found tears coming to his own eyes, though he almost laughed as his mother threw her arms around both of them.

"I can't believe this!" she said. "How did you end up here? Wait, don't answer that. We're only gonna talk about happy things tonight. Unless you want to talk about it, in which case we're all ears. I'm just so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you guys," Hiro replied. "It's been a while, huh."

"You could say that," his dad laughed and finally stepped back. "Almost eleven years."

Suddenly, his mother smacked him on the shoulder. "And starting a superhero group! Fighting Professor Callaghan! What were you thinking!" Hiro shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry Mom."

"Oh, don't be sorry," she murmured and hugged him from behind, around his shoulders. "I'm so proud of you. And you're so big now."

"Relatively speaking," his father teased.

"Hey!" His father laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Come on. Let's go take a walk and catch up."

As they walked along the edge of the koi pond, enjoying the fresh night air and walking alongside his _parents, _Hiro was again struck by how much Heaven really felt like… heaven.

"So tell us about college," his dad asked. "How were you liking SFIT?"

"It was so cool!" Hiro rambled on for a bit as he talked about rebuilding Baymax and how Karmi was the next youngest student there and all of his friends' projects as well. He told them about the building built in Tadashi's honor and how Cass had been asked to cater the event.

"How is Cass doing?" his mom asked. Hiro's smile fell.

"She's doing great. She was the best growing up. The cafe's doing really well, rated top ten in the city. She… she didn't know we were Big Hero 6. I'm worried how she'll take it after she finds out that…" His parents nodded in understanding. A question popped to Hiro's mind and blurted it out before he could stop it. "What was it like when you guys died?" His parents exchanged a meaningful glance and Hiro cringed. "Sorry, is that an insensitive question up here?"

"No," his father replied, shaking his head. "Not at all. Just… trying to put it into words."

"You know what actually dying feels like," his mother said. "It's like blinking or waking up. You're suddenly just there."

"The accident itself though. Gosh." His dad ran a hand down his face. "That was terrifying. We were driving back from a work party. We had left you with Aunt Cass and the roads were slippery. We got broadsided by a semi and the next thing I knew I woke up here. Your mother wasn't here yet."

"It took me a while," she murmured. "I saw the paramedics arrive, but before they could get me out I woke up here." She smiled now and grabbed her husband's hand. "I'll admit, I was relieved when I woke up and you were here."

"And then the grief sank in," her husband whispered.

"And understandably so! We left you guys and I was so worried about Cass and if you guys would be okay-"

"Her first person was her mother who sat her down and let her cry and told her everything would be okay," his father said with the barest hint of a smirk.

"Bless that woman," his mother echoed. "She kept me sane both in life and in death."

"So," his father said, looking perceptively at Hiro. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, yeah, it does," he said, but looked deep in thought. With a knowing sigh, his father placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing Hiro to look up at him.

"Hiro, we are so proud of you and your brother. We didn't want to leave you and I think I speak for both of us when I say that if we could have gone back, we would have.

"We love you Hiro. Always have and always will."

Something seemed to break inside of Hiro, a shard of resentment, of fear, that somehow his parents leaving had been their choice. But now…

But now here they were in front of him, basically _radiating _their love for him. They were proud of him.

That was all he had wanted to know.

He flung his arms around his father and held him close. "Thanks Dad." A hand ruffled his hair.

"Of course."

He pulled back slightly at the gentle touch of his mother.

"You ready to move on?"

Hiro nodded. "I- I think so. I get to come back and see you guys after though, right?"

"Oh yeah!" his mom said. "Don't worry. As soon as you're done, we're gonna have a big family dinner with _everybody!_ Or, at least us and Tadashi to start with."

"Wait, there's food in heaven?" Hiro asked as they approached a small stone wall and gate that seemed to lead out of the garden.

"Do you think it would be heaven if there wasn't?"

Hiro grinned. "Aunt Cass certainly wouldn't." He gave each of his parents another big hug. "I love you guys. I'll see you soon."

"Love you too son."

"Love you so much! Good luck!"

Hiro smiled, took a deep breath, and turned and walked through the gate.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys, it's been a minute, sorry about that! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

Hiro walked through the gate and once again the fog blocked his view. But soon enough it dissipated to find himself on a street facing, what he had to assume, was the heavenly version of SFIT.

"Huh. Didn't expect this to be here," Hiro muttered. He moved to step across the street and was suddenly inside the building, standing in a long hallway. It seemed to stretch on forever in both directions. In front of him was a closed door. As odd as the situation seemed, Hiro wasn't getting any bad vibes.

"Well." He knocked on the door which swung open slightly. He pushed gently and stepped inside. "Hello?"

"Hiro?"

No way.

Nearly jumping out of his skin at the unexpected voice, Hiro found himself in an empty lab, just begging to be used, along with Professor Callaghan.

"Callaghan?!"

The older man nodded, looking equally shocked to see Hiro.

"I can't say I expected to see you here, Hiro."

"Yeah, me either. How- when- did you-?"

"Die?" He smirked. "As I recall it was late on the 23rd. I had a heart attack at the jail. And you? You weren't exactly on death's doorstep last I knew."

"I got hurt in a fight. Impaled." The professor winced in sympathy.

"I can't imagine that was a fun way to go."

"Yeah, I can't imagine _burning to death _was either."

Callaghan sighed and the semi-cordiality was gone in an instant and replaced with a tension that was as thick as Aunt Cass's Infinite Layer Chocolate Cake. Hiro's fists were shaking they were balled up so tight. He knew this was heaven, but if an angel didn't come and stop him, he very well might deck Callaghan in the face right then and there.

"So I guess we're talking about this."

"Of course we're talking about this! You left my brother to die and I want an explanation!"

"You think I wanted to let him die?" Callaghan snarled, making Hiro take an involuntary step backward. "I had no choice-"

"Bullcrap!" Hiro shouted back. "Of course you had a choice! Everyone has a choice and you _chose _to let him die!"

"I _had no choice,_" Callaghan repeated. "I had already lost _everything. _My daughter was dead and all I wanted was revenge on the man who caused it. And I think-" The fire in his voice died down. "And I think I knew that if I rescued Tadashi, he would talk me out of it."

Hiro hadn't expected _that. _But still. "That doesn't make it okay."

Callaghan nodded. "I know." He glanced at the door and said, "And I have a sneaking suspicion that once we're done here, I'll be seeing your brother." He turned back to Hiro and fixed him with a curious stare. "I have to admit Hiro, I would've thought you'd be a bit more… lenient after they determined the cause of the fire."

"What does that mean?" Hiro demanded. Callaghan's face fell, almost growing pitying.

"They never told you did they." It wasn't a question.

Despite Hiro's best efforts, he couldn't help the shadow of fear growing in his stomach.

"What-what do you mean?" But he could feel his bravado fading.

"Think back to the showcase. You said the microbots could be used for transportation and suddenly you were hanging over the audience, traveling across the ceiling. And then-"

"Sparks."

Callaghan nodded, face falling even more at Hiro's horrified expression. Hiro remembered now, seeing them out of the corner of his eye. On one of the pipes he had been traveling across, there had been a spark. He hadn't thought much of it and neither had anyone else, if they had noticed it all.

"It caused a malfunction with some faulty wiring. The fire spread faster than anyone could have predicted."

Hiro couldn't breathe, couldn't think. The shadow had become a force, filling his whole body with a dread he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"No. No! No, no, no. It can't- _I can't _have been the reason my brother is _dead, _no. That was _you. _That was…" Tears had gathered in the boy's eyes and he _hated _how scared he sounded when he finished. "That was you."

"I'm sorry Hiro. I'm so, so sorry."

For whatever reason, that's what broke him. A heartwrenching sob tore from his throat as Hiro collapsed in on himself, balanced on his toes, arms wrapped around his bent knees. Callaghan waited, staring at the ground to give Hiro some form of privacy and shed a silent tear or two himself, that slowly turned to muted sobs.

"I'm so sorry Hiro." He wiped a hand down his face, but the tears kept coming and the words kept coming through the tears. "I never should have done that. I should have saved your brother. I'm," he hiccuped, trying in vain to stop his crying. "I'm ashamed of the man I've become." Hiro rocked back to sit down, knees bent and looked up at the professor. "Neither of us deserve to be here: you deserve to still be alive and I deserve _much _worse than this," he laughed sadly, gesturing around, encompassing heaven in general and then, paused.

There was the door they had come in, but now there was another door next to it.

And suddenly, everything made sense.

"One of us gets to go home," Hiro whispered. Callaghan nodded.

Hiro sniffed and wiped his nose before letting out a small laugh.

"You know, Tadashi used to speak so highly of you. You were his favorite professor. He told me about how you invited all your students over for dinner once or how you'd spend extra hours tutoring him, helping him finalize his original Baymax designs. He loved you." Now he turned to look the professor in the eye. "One thing I know about my brother is that he always gave second chances. And I think he would be willing to give one to you, if you'd let him."

Callaghan couldn't even speak the words, but mouthed a quiet, "Thank you."

They stayed that way for a moment longer, tension gone. The hurt was still there, but now it could give way to healing. Eventually, Callaghan sighed.

"I suppose I should get this over with." He stared at the door as if doing so would make it vanish. Hiro got to his feet, suddenly apprehensive about the thought of going back to the world of the living.

"Hiro." Callaghan dragged his gaze away from the door to the young boy. "Tell Abigail I'm sorry and that I love her. Whatever happens... whatever you decide to do with your life... you'll do great. Keep helping people, like your brother, like _you _and, you'll do great." He gave Hiro the smallest smile, a trembling olive branch, and Hiro knew in his heart it wouldn't be right - _he _wouldn't be alright - if he didn't take it. He smiled back.

"Thanks. Tell Tadashi hi for me and I guess I'll see him eventually." He let out a nervous breath on the edge of a sob. He didn't want to go. Callaghan nodded.

"I will. And thank you Hiro."

Hiro returned the nod and, in sync, they stepped forward and opened the doors.

::::::::::::::::

_Beep...beep...beep._

_"Hey, tell Aunt Cass hi for me okay? And give her a hug. And the others too. Gosh there's too much to say. It was so good to see you bro. I love you. Remember to use that big brain of yours. Remember, I _can _see you, yknow!" The barest feeling of a hair ruffle and a hug around the shoulders and then the presence was gone._

_Beep..beep..beep._

_"Aw I guess we'll have to wait on that dinner. But, that's okay. We love you Hiro!"_

_"We're so proud of you son. We'll see you again, don't worry. Give Cass our love." The soft feeling of a kiss on his forehead and being surrounded in a hug and the two were gone._

_Beep, beep, beep._

_And then, Hiro was back._

:::::::::::::::::

Even through his closed eyelids, the lights were blinding. Hiro scrunched his eyebrows and then coughed at the uncomfortable dryness in his throat and then at the realization that there was a tube stuck down it.

Being alive sucked.

He quickly took it back though as a hand grabbed his and another was placed to his forehead.

"Hiro? Honey? Are you with us?"

He groaned in response but leaned into Aunt Cass' touch and thought that nothing in the whole wide world could feel better. He cracked open one eye and then the other, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. The smile on her face was enough to make up for the pangs he knew would come from missing the rest of his family.

"H Mm Caah."

"Oh, let's get that tube out of your mouth. Hang on."

She called for a doctor and the next fifteen minutes were spent being poked and prodded and examined until they deemed him good-enough-for-now and left him alone with his aunt.

Hiro sighed and made the mistake of glancing over at his aunt only to see tears in her eyes and, next thing he knew, being tackled (gently) in a hug.

"It's alright Aunt Cass. I'm fine. I'm okay, I promise." He hugged her back as hard as he could until she finally pulled away. "How long was I out anyway?"

"Three days. A long three days," she corrected with a laugh. "They had to resuscitate you - oh it was awful - you don't want to hear this."

"Tadashi says hi."

Cass stared at him. Then blinked, once, twice.

"You saw...?" Hiro nodded.

"I died Cass. I know that much. I- I went to Heaven. I saw Tadashi and Mom and Dad. They told me to tell you they love you. Ha, Heaven is great Cass. Tadashi had this huge lab! And Mom and Dad showed me around this garden."

Cass smiled in wonder and relief as Hiro talked on and on about what he saw and experienced there, including his talk with Callaghan.

"Did you know, about the fire?" he asked. Cass nodded.

"But I didn't ever make the connection between it and your microbots. I am _so _sorry Hiro."

"It's... ok. I'm coming to terms with it. Ha, who knew dying could be so therapeutic?"

"They resuscitated you four times before you were stable. And even then..." She suddenly clapped her hands on her thighs. "We should call the others, let them know you're alright."

"Wow," Hiro muttered and run a hand down his face. "Four times. Three days!" Cass paused in dialing the others to squeeze Hiro's knee.

"I'm so glad you're back."

_Click. "Hello? Cass? Is that you?" Wasabi asked._

_"Is it about Hiro? Is he awake?!" Honey Lemon yelled._

_"HIRO!" Fred yelled._

_"Dude!" Gogo bit back._

"Oh hi! Yes, guys, he's awake! Here, I'll let you talk to him." Cass shoved the phone into Hiro's hands with an excited smile on her face.

"Hey guys." He was immediately greeted by enthusiastic responses from everyone and he couldn't help but grin and thought for a moment he felt someone grinning next to him. "Do I have a story for you guys."

**A/N: Tada! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, cuz I certainly enjoyed writing it. And remember, reviews make the world go round. :)**


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